[1] His family were members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and Hatke spent a lot of time outdoors as a child.

[3] Other influences included Bill Watterson, Maurice Sendak, Leonardo da Vinci, Brian Froud, Trina Schart Hyman, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Todd McFarlane.

Along the way, she rides a giant mouse, deals with humanoid chickens as well as robots, and makes friends with a blob-like creature.

[1][3] He continued developing the character in webcomics and then a short story titled "Zita the Spacegirl: If Wishes Were Socks," in the 2008 Random House anthology Flight Explorer.

In 2016, it was announced that Fox Animation had picked up the movie rights for the Zita trilogy; the films will be produced by Chernin Entertainment.